Furnace stoker



Nov. 27, 1934.

A. CHRISTIANSON FURiJACE STOKER Filed July 15, 1935 3 Sheets-Shae}. 1.

Nov. 27,1934. AQCH RISTIA NSON I 1,982,372

FURNACE s'romm Filed Ju1y l3, 1935 V 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I Ildlllllllllllllllmllllla1'1" n",

INVENTOR Nov. 27, 1934".

A. CHRISTIANSON FURNACE STOKER Filed July 15, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Nov. 27, 1334 FURNACE STOKER Andrew Christianson, Butler, Pa. Application July 13, 1933, Serial No. 680,272 I 11 Claims. (Cl. 110-45) My invention relates to furnace stokers, for feeding coal furnaces and disposing of the ashes and clinkers.

One object of my invention is to provide an automatic stoker of such form that it can be conveniently employed in connection with house heating furnaces, it being applicable also, however, to other types of furnaces.

One object of my invention is to provide an.

improved means for supplying solid fuel, such as coal, to a furnace.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved means for disposing of the ashes and clinkers'.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a stoker furnace of the character referred to which is of generally simplified and improved form.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a stoker installation; Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view thereof; Fig. 3 is a view taken on the line IIIIII of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a view taken on the line IV-IV of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a sectional plan view of the structure of Fig. 3; Fig. 6 is a-view taken on the line VI-VI of Fig. 1; Fig. 'Iiis a view taken'on the line VII-VII of Fig. 6, an Fig. 8 is a view showing a modification of the structure of Fig. 3. r

The apparatus includes a fuel hopper or bin 10, a screw conveyer 11 leading from the fuel hopper to a fire box 12, and an ash conveyer 13. The various moving parts of the apparatus are driven from a motor 15-, which may be an ordinary electric motor and may be suitably and'automatically controlled by various well-known thermostatic switch mechanisms, in accordance with changes in room temperature or furnace temperature, or both. The motor drives a shaft 16 by means of a belt 17. The shaft 16 in turn carries a blower fan 18 whose casing communicates through a conduit 19 with the fire pot to be hereinafter described.

The shaft 16 carries a worm 20 which drives a worm wheel 21 that is. mounted on a shaft 22 (Figs; 6 and 7). The shaft 22 carries the screw 11 for feeding coal from the hopper 10 through a conduit 24 to the fire box. The shaft 22 has gear connection with a shaft 25, through a pinion .23 and a gear 25a, mounted on said shaft, respectively, which in turn has gear connection with a shaft 26 through a pinion 25b on shaft 25,

idle gear 26a on shaft 22, and a pinion 26b on the shaft-26.

The shaft 26. carries a crank arm 2'! which, through a link 28, operates a crank lever 29 that isrigidly secured to a rock shaft 30. The rock shaft 30, at its rear end, carries a bell crank lever 32. The bell crank lever 32 operates a link 33 which is rigidly connected to a rock shaft 34. The shaft 34 has rigidly secured thereto an arm 35'which at its lower end is pivotally connected to a pair of bars 36, each of which has connection with a feed slide 37.. The shaft 34 extends through one wall of the hopper to the interior thereof, the members 35 and 36 being disposed within the hopper 10, but being shielded from the,

coal therein by a hood 38.

It will beseen that oscillation of therock shaft 30 will effect reciprocation of the feed slides 37, which are stepped as shown more clearly in Fig. 6 to draw coal into the hood 38, and cause it to fall into the conduit 24, where it is fed toward the furnace by the screw 11.

In order to prevent damage to the apparatus in case foreign matter, such as a lump of iron or stone is present in the coal, orincase excessive overload is imposed on the apparatus, I provide a breakable driving connection between the rock shaft 30 and the bell crank lever 32, and this conimposedupon the feed slides the bolt 40 will be.

sheared, thus effecting disconnection between the driving mechanism and said slides.

The coal or other fuel is advanced by the conveyer 11, to a fire pot 44, and is gradually pushed upwardly into said fire pot, to form a fuel bed, as shown more clearly in Fig. 1.

The fire pot 44 is contained within an air chamber or casing 45 upon which is rotatably supported a collar 46. The collar 46 has an annular lip-like extension 47 which overlies the upper edge of the fire pot'44, but in spaced relation thereto, to permit air from the fan conduit 19 to be supplied to the fuel bed. In its outer periphery, the extension 47 is provided with air passages 48, through which air may fiow to the outer portion of the fuel bed. I Removable stops 46a (Fig. 3) prevent vertical displacement of the collar 46.

A flanged annular plate 50 is loosely supported on the collar 46, but is held against rotation rela- 'tive' thereto, by lugs 51 which engage with lugs 52 carriedby the collar 46, so that when the collar is rotated, as hereinafter described, the plate 50 will also rotate. The parts 46 and 50 are preferably formed separately, as a convenience of manlugs 56 (Figs. 3 and 5) which are disposed at either side of the collar 46, normally in slightly spaced relation thereto. The member 55 is slidably supported on a connecting collar 57 of the conduit 24, and is slid back and forth thereon by means of a link 58 which is reciprocated through oscillation of an arm 59 which is secured to the rock shaft 30.

, As viewed in Fig. 5, when the link 58 is moved to the right, the member 55 will be held against pivotal movement by engagement with a stop shoulder 60 that is carried by the link 58. Upon movement of the link 58 in the opposite direction, the member 55 will be swung slightly on its pivot and cause the projections 56 to grip the ring 46, and thus impart slight rotative movement to the ring. In this manner, the ring 56 is slowly rotated through step-by-step movements.

An apron S2 is supported on an annular ash trough 63 that is in turn supported on flanges 64 which extend from the casing 45. The outer edge of the apron 62 is'in close proximity to the furnace wall 65. somewhat on the apron 62 and protect it from excessive heat, and also assist in conserving heat within the furnace.

The inner wall of the ash trough 63 is radially spaced from the periphery of the plate 50, to permit the ashes to fall into the trough as they are gradually forced outward from the fire pot 44. For the purpose of breaking up clinkers so that they too will pass into the ash trough 63, I provide stationary lugs or projections 66 on the ash trough, and lugs 67 on the plate 59. Through rotation of the collar 46 and plate by means of the clutch above-described, clinkers are caught between the lugs 66 and 6'7 and broken into small pieces.

The ashes and broken clinlrers which fall into the ash trough are me. along the same by a vane or vanes 68, and fall through an opening in the bottom of the trough to discharge spout 69, that communicates with a conduit or the ash conveyer 13, the upper end of wh into an ash receptacle 71. Th is driven from the shaft 26, thl agh skew or helical gears 72. In case the receptacle 71 becomes overfilled through failure to replace are same, the excess ashes will be discharged past a hinged conveyer 73, the cover norm?" being 'ained in closed position by its own w ght.

The conduit is hinged at 74 so its discharge end may be raised and lowered to facilitate the placing of the ash receptacles in closefitt-ing relation to the discharge end of the ,conduit and thereby reduce danger of ash dust escaping. The upper end of the conduit has pin-andslot connection with a bracket 75, which serves as a guide.

In Fig. 8, I show a modified arrangement for supplying air to the fuel bed. In this structure the air is not only supplied through the lip 47 of the collar 46, but there is also provided a passage- The ashes will accumulateportion of the fuel bed, means for imparting rotative movement to the lip relative to the pot, and ash disposal means located peripherally of said lip, the said lip being spaced from the upper edge of the pot to permit the introduction of air to the fuel bed in the pot.

2. The combination with a furnace having a fire pot and meansfor feeding solid fuel. into the lower portion of the pot, of a rotatable lip adjacent to the upper edge of the pot and extending peripherally thereof, an annular plate disposed peripherally of the lip and positioned to receive fuel and ashes forced from the upper portion of the fire pot by said feeding means, and means for supplying air past the underside of said lip to the body of fuel within'the fire pot and to' the fuel on the said plate. I

'3. The combination with a furnace having a fire pot and means for feeding solid fuel into the lower portion of the pot, of a rotatable annular plate adjacent to the upper edge of the pot and. extending peripherally thereof, in position to receive ashes and unburned fuel forced from the fire pot by said feeding means, a clinker-breaklg projection carried bysaid plate, at its periphand a stationary clinker-breaking projection supported in proximity to the path of movement of the first-named clinker-breaking projection.

4. The combination with a furnace having a fire pot and means for feeding solid fuel into the lower portion of the pot, of a rotatable annular plate adjacent to the upper edge of the pot and extending peripherally thereof, in position to receive ashes and unburned fuel forced from the fire pot by said feeding means, a clinker-breaking projection carried by said plate, at its periphery, a stationary clinker-breaking projection supported in proximity to the path of movement of the firstnamed clinker-breaking projection, and an ash trough beneath the said plate partially enclosing the peripheral edge thereof. 7

5. The combination with a furnace having a fire pot and means for feeding solid fuel into the lower portion of the pot, of a rotatable annular plate adjacent to the upper edge of the pot and extending peripherally thereof, in position to receive ashes and unburned fuel forced from the fire pot by said feeding means, a clinker-breaking projection carried by said plate, at its periphery,

a stationary clinker-breaking projection supported in proximity to e path of movement of the brealring projection, an ash first-named clinker trough beneath the said plate member partially enclosing the peripheral edge thereof, and a projection at the underside of the plate for forcing ashes through said trough to a point of. discharge.

6. The combination with a furnace having a fire pot and means for feeding solid fuel into the lower portion of the pot, of a rotatable annular plate adjacent to the upper edge of the pot and extending peripherally thereof, in position to receive ashes and unburned fuel forced from the fire pot by said feeding means, a clinker-breaking projection carried by said plate, at its periphery, a stationary clinker-breaking projection supported in proximity to the path of movement of ash trough beneath the said plate, partialLv enclosing the peripheral edge thereof, a projection at the underside of the plate for forcing ashes through said trough to a point of discharge, and anencased conveyer for receiving the ashes at said point of discharge.

'1. The combination with a furnace having a fire pot and means for feeding solid fuel into the lower portion of the pot, of a rotatable annular member disposed adjacent to the upper edge of the pot and extending peripherally thereof, an ash-retaining apron disposed peripherally oi! said member and extending radially to the inner wall of the furnace, a clinker-b projection carried by said member, and a c her-breaking projection carried by said apron in proximity to the path of movement of the first-named clinker-breaking projection.

8. The combination with a furnace having a fire pot and means for feeding solid fuel into the lower portion of the pot, of a rotatable annular member disposed adjacent to the upper edge of the pot and extending peripherally thereof, an ash-retaining apron disposed peripherally of said. member and extending radially to the inner wail of the furnace, a clinker-breaking projection carried by said member and a clinker-breaking projection carried by said apron in proximity to the path of movement of the first-named clinker breaking projection, the *adjacent edges of said rotatable member and the apron being spaced apart to permit of ashes falling between the same.

9. The combination with a furnace having a fire pot and means for feeding solid fuel into the lower portion of the pot, ofa rotatable annular member disposed adjacent to the upper edge of the pot and extending peripherally thereof, an ash-retaining apron disposed peripherally of said member and extending radially to theinner wall ofthefumace,andanashtroughdisposedbeneath the adjacent edges of the rotatable memher and the apron, and an ash conveyer member carried by the rotatable member and extending into said trough.

10. The combination with a furnace having a fire pot and means for feeding solid'fuel into the lower portion of the pot, of a relatively rotatable member disposed peripherally of the upper edge of said pot in position to receive ashes and unburned fuel discharged upwardly from said pot. and an ash trough disposed beneath the outer edge of said member.

11. The combination with a furnace having a fire pot and means for feeding solid fuel into the lower portion of the pot, of a relatively rotatable member disposed peripherally of the upper edge of said pot in position to receive ashes and unburned fuel discharged upwardly from said pot, an ashtroughdisposedbeneaththe outeredgeof said member, and means. operated by said relative movement for conveying ashes from said 1 trough.

ANDREW W803. 

